Google tells TV companies not to mention Google TV

Erica, 20th December 2010

Yikes. It was supposed to be one of the biggest stories at next month's huge CES trade show, but now Google is telling anyone who had a Google TV product planned in their lineup to no longer show it off, as it goes back to the drawing board to improve the software.

Google TV launched earlier this fall with the release of Sony's Internet TV and Logitech's Revue set-top box. It was designed to revolutionize the TV viewing experience. Users could watch TV while browsing the Web or using apps in simultaneous picture-in-picture.

But it's been met with lukewarm reception. People find the process of surfing the Net on their TV as cumbersome as always, and find nothing especially exciting about Google TV. The products are expensive and don't even come with what you want from an expensive TV these days - 3D.

So, Google has issued statements to companies like LG, Toshiba, and Sharp to cancel any announcements or presentations they were planning for their respective Google TV products next month. Instead, it's going to work hard to make the service more appealing and, in effect, push back the deployment schedule for the TV operating system.

This is all according to a report in the New York Times, which also points to Google's less-than-stellar history with manufacturing partners.

"Google as a company is not a particularly partner-friendly or partner-focused company," reads a quotation from the Times by Forrester analyst James McQuivey.

Google itself had this to say, via spokesperson Gina Weakley: "Our long-term goal is to collaborate with a broad community of consumer electronics manufacturers to help drive the next-generation TV-watching experience, and we look forward to working with other partners to bring more devices to market in the coming years."

So it seems as though Google TV may not be the Android of your living room. At least not yet. TV is a finicky, finicky marketplace.